Niçoise

At the foot of the French Alps, on the Mediterranean coastline, the city of Nice is sun-drenched, bursting with colour, and replete with vibrant, full-flavoured food. In Niçoise, Rosa Jackson, founder of the popular cooking school Les Petits Farcis and a resident of the city since 2004, invites home cooks to discover much more than salade Niçoise and ratatouille. With its reliance on olive oil, fresh produce, fish, whole grains and chickpeas, the Italian-influenced Niçoise cuisine includes panisses (chickpea fries), daube (orange-scented beef stew) and a sweet Swiss chard pie. Encouraging readers to follow the seasons, Jackson structures her delicious and easy-to-master dishes around the freshest ingredients and celebrates casual street food like the tuna, egg and vegetable sandwich known as pan bagnat. Beautiful photography, visits to local shops and restaurants, and conversations with the mamies who keep traditions alive further transport readers to the hidden corners of this tourist mecca.

Jackson amazes with lots of informative and encouraging sidebars on things like hunting for mushrooms, crushing hazelnuts, washing leeks, and stocking the Nice pantry. . . . Consider [Niçoise] bona fide and truthful publicity for the region.--Barbara Jacobs "Booklist", Rosa has a clear beauty about her, and she is always in the thick of what is happening in the food world, whether it be in Nice, or Paris, or Morocco or wherever her many travels take her. Niçoise, the book, has that same clarity, with the sharp focus of the Niçoise sun, the vibrancy of the city's population, the vivid colors and sparkles from the produce and the sea. This book opens up a city that defies description, places it in its region and beyond. It is a book to treasure.--Susan Herrmann Loomis, author of fourteen books, journalist, ghost writer, The people of Nice are fiercely proud of their resolutely seasonal cuisine. Rosa Jackson celebrates the sun-soaked flavors and ingredients of Niçoise cooking, direct from her long-time home (and her well-known cooking school) in the south of France. Rosa shares her favorite recipes, including the classic Salade Niçoise, picnic-friendly Pan bagnat sandwiches, garlicky Grand aioli, and a brilliant Lemon tart with a soupçon of olive oil. Niçoise brings the freshness and vibrant spirit of Nice--and Niçoise cuisine--to your kitchen, and onto your table, wherever you are.--David Lebovitz, author of Drinking French and My Paris Kitchen

Rosa Jackson has run her cooking school Les Petits Farcis in Nice, France, for over twenty years. A former Paris restaurant critic, she has written about French food for international publications, including the Financial Times and Food & Wine, and also runs the Paris food tour company Edible Paris.